Messiah: Saviour and Recruiting Sergeant
Bournemouth Symphony Chorus is celebrating
a 100years of existence thanks to Handel’s
Messiah. The Choir has performed the work
on upwards of 140 occasions. In most
seasons, only this work attracted sufficient
demand at the Box Office to turn loss into profit
in the Choir’s annual accounts. The annual
performances, at Christmas, or early in the
New Year, became a tradition and one that has
been maintained until the present day. To
those members who often asked for alternate
fare for Christmas, the committee, egged on
by its Hon. Treasurer answered, “Sorry, it’s
Handel, or bust.”
Comfort Ye, My Treasurers
"The two performance concerts were Elijah
and Messiah and it will be noted that 800
more people attended the two Messiah
performances. This, I think, represents the
relative popularity of the two works."
Stanley Arthur (from his 1952 Annual
Report as Honorary Secretary)
The very few breaks have been caused not
through choice but through external factors: the
outbreak of war, for instance, or the sudden
closure of the Winter Gardens for urgent
maintenance at the start of 1965.
Performing styles in Handel have changed
remarkably over the last hundred years. Not
until 1940, and then with many grumbles, was
the ancient Vincent Novello edition of the vocal
score ditched by the Choir in favour of the
“modern” edition by Ebenezer Prout, first
published in 1902, nine years before the birth
of the Choir!
This is part of a letter from Charles Groves
who couldn’t attend the Choirs’s AGM in June
1956 because of a conducting engagement
in Newport.
17.06.56
To be fair, the next fifteen or so years saw
conservative Bournemouth moving from the
rearguard to the avant-garde in terms of
Handelian practice. It started with Charles
Groves who introduced period practices
before they became commonplace. Well does
the writer, then a member of St James Choir
in Pokesdown, Bournemouth, remember the
hot debates in quires and places where they
sing over a rumour claiming that Charles
Groves was going to scale down the
orchestra, possibly reduce the Municipal
Choir’s numbers and was intending to play a
HARPSICHORD
to
accompany
the
recitatives! What would have been the
response had Charles Groves featured a
counter-tenor, such as Yuri Mynenko who
sang with the Symphony Chorus in the 21st
century?
Indeed, Messiah is nowadays
almost invariably performed by the Chorus
with a counter-tenor.
"I feel choral societies should display a bust of
Mr. Handel placed in a favoured position in the
first row of tenors, in honour of their very
existence: for how many amateur choral
societies would have gone under but for the
all-appealing masterpiece. Some of us must
have heard it hundreds of times, and yet how
fresh it is, and how we all love singing it."
Roy Henderson (in a letter to his Choir)
Charles Groves
The Choir was formed in an era of
monumental Messiahs - the more the merrier
was key to a successful performance. By
1900, the score had become part of Britain’s
heritage. Church choirs might essay one or
two of its choruses, but to experience the
“real thing” it was necessary to join a large
Choral Society.
There was safety in
numbers. The Christmas Messiah was an
ideal time to join such a body. Some
choruses would be in the chorister’s
bloodstream and (s)he could learn the rest
under cover of many experienced voices on
her or his part. So many new singers across
the country were recruited by the Messiah,
and, provided the hurdle of the voice test
was conquered, it offered a facile route into
the thrill and camaraderie of a big choir.
Isobel Baillie sang the soprano solos with
the Bournemouth Choir as soon as she
returned from her vocal studies in Milan. Her
autobiography was titled Never Sing Louder
Than Lovely and through 45 years of visits
to the South Coast, mainly but not entirely to
sing in Messiah, she maintained an
exquisitely pure tone without sacrificing clear
enunciation making arias, such as I Know
That My Redeemer Liveth, unforgettable to
those who heard her.
Kathleen Ferrier reigned supreme in the
contralto arias for six performances during
the war years. Service people were
admitted at half price; could they have taken
sweeter or more consoling, memories to the
Messiah was the choir’s flexible friend. It
may be the only choir to have sung the
oratorio in a cinema (Bournemouth’s Regent)
under Sir Malcolm Sargent with timpani
and cinema organ for accompaniment. All
that in 1930. Bournemouth has heard many
variations on Handel’s original orchestration
from grand Victorian conflations to Mozart’s
version that Richard Stamp essayed in 1974.
Pictured (clockwise from top left): Isobel Baillie,
Norma Procter, Harold Williams, Parry Jones
front?
Thereafter, Norma Procter, like
Ferrier, a pupil of Roy Henderson became the
first choice. Amongst the tenor soloists who
sang the work with distinction with the
Municipal Choir during its first 50 years were
the Welshman, Parry Jones, and two
distinguished Englishmen; Heddle Nash and
Eric Greene.
In his youth, the writer was fed on the ringing,
dark as gravy, tones of Harvey Alan in the
bass solos. He was another pupil of Roy
Henderson. However, the most frequent
visitor to Bournemouth was the Australian,
Harold Williams. He was admired for brilliant
breath control and the clarity of his English
diction - once he’d extinguished his Aussie
accent! Harold was a cricket lover, both as
a player in village matches and a spectator
reputed never to have missed an England
versus Australia Test Match.
After World War II, the work became the
Choir’s leading export. Invitations were
received to sing in Wimborne Minster and
Christchurch Priory. The Choir had been
invited to sing the work in East Cliff
Congregational Church during 1916 and had
curtly declined as to do so was inconsistent
with the “construction and procedure of the
MUNICIPAL Choir”. Post World War II, the
mood had changed and this malleable work
was taken and sung with soloists from the
choir on several occasions. Here are two
examples:
Wimborne Minster February 1951
Soloists from choir: Ethel Fullerton
(soprano); Muriel Pursey (contralto), Edgar
Idle (son of Frank as the tenor); E I Jones
(baritone) Organist: Norman CharltonBurdon
Christchurch Priory February 1951
Soloists from choir: Ethel Fullerton
(soprano); Muriel Pursey (contralto), Arthur
Rayner (tenor) & E I Jones (baritone)
Geoffrey Tristram on organ (Hammond)
POST CA RD
from Howard Dalton
First Bass
The Choir’s first year of independence (192122) was anchored by the twin Messiahs at
Christmas. This comes from the Chairman’s
Annual Report:
The Messiah Concert [sic] was a great
success financially and never before have
the receipts reached such a high water mark,
and I think it was generally admitted the best
performance was given; this of course was
due to the Choir being massed together.
By massed, the Chairman meant in close
order for the Choir had not returned to
pre-World War I strength & balance
(sopranos 70; contraltos 40; tenors 20;
basses 35)
ADVICE (in a letter to the choir's
AGM in 1943 from its conductor,
Roy Henderson)
There is one essential. In order
to give itself freedom of
expression the choir must free
itself from its copies as far as
possible. How about learning
at any rate the Messiah
choruses bit by bit so as to be
ready? You will never regret it;
it will stand you in good stead
for many years.
The message remains as
pertinent in 2012
Sir Charles Groves took what he had learned about
performing Messiah with his Bournemouth Choir to choirs
across the world, as this excerpt from a letter to the Choir’s
Secretary, Donald Sheppard demonstrates.
21.xii.82
Charles Groves
LONDON NW1 9UV
BC: Before the Choir
Choral music started in Bournemouth with church
choirs. At key moments in their church’s year
some of them formed festival choirs to sing larger
works, such as Gounod’s oratorio Redemption.
All this amateur singing
activity laid the ground for the
formation of Bournemouth’s
first permanent giant group,
Madame Newling’s Choir,
brought together to present
a cantata by Dalhousie
Young
The
Blessed
Damozel based on the poem
written by young Dante
Gabriel Rossetti, the founder
of
the
Pre-Raphaelite
Brotherhood, who later
illustrated this poem with a
famous picture. Madame
Newling’s Choir started with
about 70 voices. Dalhousie Young (1866-1921),
born in India, was a composer who had studied the
piano under Theodor Leschetizky (famous as the
teacher of Paderewski). Young wrote the cantata
The Blessed Damozel for performance in Leeds
and Frankfurt in Germany but it was the new
Bournemouth Choir that was entrusted with the
work’s première accompanied by the Municipal
Orchestra with the composer conducting.
Interestingly, some 13 years earlier a young
Claude Debussy had set the same poem in a
French translation, La Damoiselle Elue. The
Young première took place on Saturday 29th
November 1902 at 3pm.
Therefore, it may be argued that 1902 is the
foundation date for the Bournemouth Municipal
Choir/Bournemouth Symphony Chorus for the
latter choir grew naturally out of the former that
had, itself, been sired by Dan Godfrey from
Madame Newling’s group. The Bournemouth
Guardian reported that the performance of The
Blessed Damozel was “capital” and that the voices
of the choir
“blended well”.
The audience
w e r e
appreciative
and recalled
the soloists:
Emily Squire,
Marion Dyke,
and
Herr
R o b e r t
Hensler, tenor,
“of
Zurich”.
The cantata
lasted under
an
hour
leaving plenty of time after the interval for individual
items from the evening’s soloists and part-songs
from the choir with the choir’s rehearsal pianist –
Miss Craigie Moss – accompanying, where
necessary.
The intrepid musical explorer, Madame Newling,
did not rest on her laurels. Easter of 1903 saw her
choir exploring the Coronation Ode that Edward
Elgar had completed in 1902 for the Coronation of
Edward VII. The work ended with Land of Hope
and Glory with Elgar raiding his own Pomp and
Circumstance March no 1 for the tune he
resplendently scored for Clara Butt’s massive
contralto voice, other soloists, chorus, orchestra
and organ. Madame Newling was keen to squeeze
the maximum advantage from weeks of rehearsal.
It became her wont to run concerts twice, often on
the same day (at 3pm and 8pm). On this occasion,
she organised an open rehearsal for the evening
preceding two performances on Tuesday 28th April.
The choir contained 100 voices and they were
joined by Carrie Silviter (soprano), Harold Wilde
(tenor) and Albert Garcia (bass) with May Peters in
the stentorian “Clara Butt” role. Dan Godfrey kept
the massed forces together during these
performances. Unfortunately, Easter 1903 was full
of miserable weather so the audiences were small.
The second half of the programme contained
assorted “scenas” for the soli and partsongs
including Vineta (Brahms), The Long Day Closes
(Sullivan) and Song of the Vikings.
The greatest builder of choirs and their audiences
in Britain has been Handel’s Messiah. New recruits
flocked to rehearsals as soon as it became known
that Madame Newling was scheduling it at
Christmas, so that the Choir had doubled in strength
by the performance on December 8th. The large
choir ensured a better attendance. Once again, Dan
Godfrey conducted the performances but Madame
Newling drew the plaudits for her choral training: the
end of the Hallelujah Chorus produced vociferous
applause that was silenced only when Madame
Newling rose from her seat and took a bow. Seats
in the stalls were priced at 3 shillings and half a
crown; with those in the balcony rather cheaper at
1/6 and for the fit, musical poor admission without
a seat was a mere 1/-.
By its third season in 1904, the shape of the Newling
Choir’s year had settled down: Concerts in Spring
and Autumn with annual “Christmas” twin Messiahs
at 3pm and 8pm. Easter was celebrated through the
choir’s first Elijah with Maud Santley and Bantock
Pierpoint amongst a strong solo quartet and
November saw a Wagner Spectacular with a
shrewd mixture of orchestral favourites: the
Tannhäuser Overture and Kaisermarsch, choral
numbers, including the Spinning Wheel Chorus
from Tannhäuser for which
Madame Newling clearly had
a soft spot. Bournemouthians
were operamanes for the
Winter Gardens was full of
enthusiastic Wagnerites. The
Bournemouth
Guardian
purred approval, noting that
the
choir
had
sung
“beautifully”. This c oncert
spawned an encore: the
Grand Wagner Concert of
November 1905 that attracted
what
the
Bournemouth
Guardian termed a “crowded
audience”.
Madame
Newling had brought back to
Bournemouth one of the stars
of Covent Garden’s Opera
House: Madame Albani,
perhaps the first FrenchCanadian singer to achieve
worldwide renown who was
later to be honoured as Dame
Emma Albani.
Madame
Albani received a “flattering reception” and
Madame Newling a “floral tribute”.
Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius was performed
twice in 1909 &1910, a magnificent achievement
considering that the first London performance was
delayed until 1903 and the piece had beaten one
of the country’s finest amateur choirs at the work’s
premiere in Birmingham in 1900. In today’s terms,
it is the equivalent of an amateur chorus in a new
town such as Stevenage staging a recent score
composed by Sir Harrison Birtwistle. It had been
Madame Newling’s Choir that first started a
Bournemouth throat-tingling tradition of two choral
concert performances on the same day. The
Musical Times spoke well of the choir’s
changes of musical taste after
the first World War. However,
distinguished critics, such as
Lewis Foreman, who have
heard some of his works rate
them very highly and one or
two works have been
recorded in recent years.
performances of Arthur Sullivan’s The Golden
Legend in 1907: “The choral portions were
excellently sung by Madame Newling’s Choir of 200
voices, which, of course, received efficient support
from the Municipal Orchestra with Mr Mark Quinton
presiding at the organ.” That year also saw a
performance of Frederic Cliffe’s 1905 Ode to the
North-East Wind, based on words by Charles
Kingsley, one of a handful of pieces by Cliffe that
have survived in performable form into the 21st
century. Both of Cliffe’s symphonies had been
aired in Bournemouth. Unfortunately, this Victorian
composer (1857-1931), who taught at the Royal
College of Music, became comfortably-off and lost
his urge to compose, a condition exacerbated by
Another tradition that passed
from Mme. Newling’s Choir to
The Municipal Choir was the
annual
Christmas
performance(s) of Messiah.
The Musical Times spotted
the Achilles heel in such a
tradition: when a work
becomes hackneyed, artistic
standards
may
drop.
Certainly,
the
choir’s
December 1910 performance,
which the reviewer saw as a
“pecuniary success”, drew
adverse comments about the
quality of the choral singing.
It “lacked breadth and power” and for the first
hour was “hesitant and finicking"(sic!). Things
cannot have been helped by Dan Godfrey who
conducted
despite
being
“temporarily
indisposed”.
Having consolidated his working in creating the
Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, Dan Godfrey
was looking for other challenges as Director of
Music for Bournemouth and Manager of the
Winter Gardens. His political antennae were
acute and he knew that Municipal purse strings
loosened at the sight of anniversaries such as
Bournemouth: the Centenary 1810 - 1910. The
great success of the anniversary celebrations
offered Godfrey a chance of further expanding
his domain.
Bournemouth Square en fête in 1910, the town’s centenary year
This picture is a fascinating record. The Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra has just finished its morning rehearsal. Some of the players
are pushing their bicycles s across the Square which has been pedestrianised. The two in the centre foreground are trumpeters. Look at
the horse and trap on the left. Do you see the “man in the white suit”? That’s Percy Grainger, doubtless coming away from the same
practice. Edward Elgar and a host of other British composers attended the special centennial concerts. It’s a pity that Elgar couldn’t be
present when Madame Newling’s Choir, conducted by Dan Godfrey and accompanied by the Municipal Orchestra, reached its apogee
in their 1910 performance of The Dream of Gerontius.
The Birth of The Bournemouth Municipal Choir
Tod und Verklärung
Madame Newling fell ill early in 1911. A concert to
raise funds to help her was held in the Winter
Gardens on 7th April. A large choir assembled and
the high esteem in which she was held ensured
that a substantial sum of money was raised from a
packed Winter Gardens. Dan Godfrey was there
to conduct a programme that included a Wagner
chorus: Hail! Bright Abode from the opera
Tannhäuser. Sadly, Madame Newling died at
Easter 1911 on April 15th on the same day as Lady
Hallé. Madame Newling’s death was a personal
tragedy for her family but also a devastating blow
to the successful choir that she had formed, trained
and to which she had given her name. With such
a personal identification, there was a chance that
her passing would destroy an important part of
Bournemouth culture. Her choir’s final event was
a concert performance just ten days after
Madame Newling’s death of Edward German’s
Light Opera Merrie England with the composer
himself conducting. As so often happens adversity
brings people together, concentrating minds and
attention. The Musical Times reported that
Madame Newling’s choir sang “with more
intelligence and purity of tone than they had ever
shown before.”
The Musical Times carried this brief tribute:
“Madame Newling, principal of a School of
Music in Bournemouth and director of the choir
that bore her name [died] on April 15th. For
many years her position in musical circles in the
town had been prominent, and the loss of her
beneficent influence will be felt.”
AD: After Dan Godfrey
Rescue acts were to become an all too regular
part of Bournemouth’s musical scene in the 20th
century and it was fortunate that Dan Godfrey
was on hand to don armour and sword and to
“fight the good fight”. Dan Godfrey had been the
regular performance conductor of Madame
Newling’s Choir so he knew of its strengths and
he judged it to be the perfect vehicle to be
municipalized and made part of the body, the
corporation, of Bournemouth.
Civic and
community pride rose to grasp the opportunity to
be the world’s first town to boast a Municipal
Orchestra AND Choir.
The Musical Times reported:
“A Municipal Choral Society has been
formed under the management of the Winter
Gardens Committee, and it is proposed, by the
cooperation of the new body and Mr Dan
Godfrey’s orchestra to give a two day festival in
1913. [ … ] The prospective programme for the
present season includes “Merrie England”
(German),
“Elijah”
(Mendelssohn)
and
“Hiawatha” (Coleridge-Taylor).
The Bournemouth Municipal Choir first took the
stage not once but twice on Tuesday 14th
November 1911 in The Winter Gardens to sing in
yet more performances of Edward German’s
comic opera Merrie England, written about 8
years earlier. That date is the “official” birthday
of the Choir that still exists as the Bournemouth
Symphony Chorus. It was a very official occasion.
The town oozed municipal pride; the evening
performance had been sponsored by the town’s
musical Mayor, Alderman H.S. McCalmont Hill,
and was “attended by the Mayor and Corporation
in state”! Dan Godfrey invited the composer back
to conduct these inaugural concerts.
The
Municipal Choir was launched in rude health on a
loud unison F with the most appropriate text:
“SING…”.
In December the Musical Times reported:
“… the choir rendering the cheery music with
much vivacity and spirit.“
The same magazine reported the following
concert in greater laudatory detail:
“The Municipal Choir materially enhanced the
reputation it acquired a few weeks ago by its
capital rendering on December 12th of
Mendelssohn’s
ever-green
and
everimpressive masterpiece “Elijah”.
The 250
voices are fairly well balanced in point of
numbers, but in actual performance the altos
belie their numerical strength by their lack of
power. The choir sang with breadth and vigour,
and the careful training they had received was
made apparent in many ways; the chief defect
at present is the lack of knowledge respecting
the various shades of tone colour.”
The Municipal Choir’s first Chorus Master was Dr.
H. Holloway, local composer and Organist of St.
Stephen’s Church, with Alice Harding as
rehearsal accompanist and H. Arthur Kettle acting
as Hon. Secretary. Singers were required to
undergo voice trials and altogether over 200
assembled for the première performances. The
initial repertoire was chosen on a fail-safe basis.
The first two years A.D. mirrored the works of the
last two B.C. and were packed with sure-fire box
office successes. For a time there was talk of
performing a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta but the
expense of hiring so many soloists proved an
inhibition and Dan Godfrey settled for a reprise
of The Golden Legend.
The First Picture of The Bournemouth Municipal Choir
taken at 10.30pm on 12th December 1911 in the old Winter Gardens after two performances of Mendelssohn’s Elijah
It was too soon for the Choir’s name to be established: Bournemouth Municipal Choral Society (sic!) This picture catches a relaxed moment, so
unusual for the time. Look at the Mayor leaning towards a young soloist and is she showing a trace of ankle?
It’s a Civic occasion with the Councillors fully robed, yet they are enjoying to the full their obvious pride in their own Municipal Choir.
The ladies wore sashes right from the start. The sopranos, on the left of this image, wore them over their right shoulder and the contraltos were a mirror
image. The men sport a higher percentage of dinner jackets than they achieved 20 years later. Does that suggest that the choir became less middle class
and more representative of Bournemouth as a whole during that period? The soloists were boosted by members of the choir. I think it’s the contralto soloist,
Violet Eliott, on Dan Godfrey’s right that has caught the eye of the orchestra’s leader. Dan, himself, looks calm and composed. He came from a family of
military musicians and had been taught the value of good preparation. The other professional soloists were Emily Breare, Ernest Pike (with hands on knees)
and the Australian bass, Peter Dawson.
The first season was a busy one. After Elijah
the choir moved to British music with a
pairing of parts of Coleridge–Taylor’s
Hiawatha (conducted, naturally, by its
composer) with The Challenge, a choral
ballad by the Choir’s own conductor Henry
Holloway. The Musical Times reported of the
last event, a concert performance of
Gounod’s opera Faust:
“The music, of course, did not put the
capabilities of the choir to any great test, but
the singing was expressive and the work of the
orchestra, exceptionally fine.“
Coleridge-Taylor fever gripped Edwardian
choirs and the easy tunefulness of Hiawatha
made them select the composer’s later piece
A Tale of Old Japan with great expectations.
So, it was in Bournemouth: if 1912 had been
the year of the North American Indians, 1913
started as the time for world music. “Capital
Performance, … extremely efficient soloists,”
yelled the Musical Times’s critic as he
listened to a Japanese Cantata by an English
composer of African descent, who, sadly,
had died prematurely of pneumonia. The
piece recaptures the freshness, melodic
charm and rhythmic variety of ColeridgeTaylor’s early Hiawatha trilogy. The story, a
poem by Alfred Noyes, plots the love of
Sawara, an art student, for O Kimi San, the
ward of his teacher Yoichi Tenko. Sawara
travels abroad to pursue his career whilst
Kimi San’s marriage to a rich merchant is
arranged by Yoichi Tenko. Sawara returns
famous but his love for Kimi San has cooled.
Sawara’s affection for him remains
undimmed and she dies of a broken heart.
This sensitive, Eastern pastel was coupled
with The Wedding of Shon Maclean, a
Scottish piece set by a West Country
composer that relates how twenty bagpipers
drank and blew themselves to death at a
wedding reception. (John) Hubert Bath, the
composer, who had been born in Barnstaple,
went on to fame as a writer of film music; he
arranged and composed for the first British
“talkie” Blackmail (1929). There was a time
when his Cornish Rhapsody (from the film
Love Story) was ubiquitous on wireless
programmes such as Friday Night is Music
Night.
Perhaps, it was singing Bath’s revelry that
inspired the members of the Municipal Choir
to hold its first Social and Dance, though, no
doubt, Bournemouth’s reputation for health,
salubrity and sobriety ensured that the tenor of
the evening was not marred by bass instincts.
Edward German was back by the seaside and
once more at the helm of his Merrie England
at Easter 1913. Further repeat performances
followed.
Hubert Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens and
Mendelssohn’s Elijah – both scores requiring
double choirs. Parry’s piece became almost
the choir’s signature tune. Parry’s birth in
Bournemouth, where his mother had fled in
the forlorn hope of curing the tubercular
condition that killed her within a fortnight of
the composer’s birth, ensured that his music
became almost as “municipal” as the choir
and orchestra.
In those days, concerts by the Bournemouth
Municipal Choir had life before birth. It was
the choir’s habit in its early years to hold its
last dress rehearsal in public and
advertisements in the press ensured that
those too impecunious to pay for a ticket and
those serious musicians wishing to get to
grips with novel scores knew that they were
more than welcome to attend. So, effectively,
Tom Jones, was on show on three
occasions: Monday (public rehearsal),
and Tuesday (3pm & 8pm, tickets 1s to 3s),
each time with Edward German at the helm.
Now that the choir has completed one
hundred years of continuous existence, 21st
century choristers may be surprised to learn
that the work most often conducted by its
composer over the last century has been
German’s comic opera.
The choir joined the Orchestra to celebrate
the Municipal Orchestra’s 21st birthday at the
start of the Winter Season in 1914 with a
concert version of Berlioz’s Damnation of
Faust that drew plaudits in the local press:
“one of the most successful choral concerts
on local record”.
Fortified by moral support from the town’s
corporation the Municipal Choir consolidated
and grew. By 1914, the “Newling” tradition of
the annual Messiah had been maintained and
notable performances had been given of
Most years neither choir nor orchestra was
costing the rate-payers of Bournemouth a
penny thanks to the careful (and proud)
stewardship of Dan Godfrey.
MADAME
NEWLING’S
CHOIR
THE FINAL CONCERTS
after her Death
on Tuesday, 25th April 1911
included
the First Performance
of the Concert Version of
Merrie England
conducted by its composer
Edward German
The cover and three pages from the programme for these historic
concerts may be seen to the left and on the next page.
The 1920s : Independence and Consolidation
The Choir remained an arm of local
government until 1921 when it became selfgoverning. This was a defensive measure to
ensure the choir’s future. Money was short
and the choir had enjoyed favourable terms,
and the costs of promoting its concerts and
paying for the Municipal Orchestra and its
conductor Dan Godfrey had come from ticket
receipts, supported, where necessary from
money from ratepayers.
Councillors were not as supportive of music
and the arts as they had been before the War
and Dan didn’t want the tightening of the town
council’s fiscal belt to jeopardise the choir that
he’d nurtured.
Independence gave the Choir freedom to
experiment. The Christmas Messiahs were
declared great successes, financially and
IN MEMORY OF CHARLES HUBERT HASTINGS PARRY, BT C.V.O. D.C.L.Mus.Doc
artistically. The Secretary, Arthur Cherrett,
Born in this town 27th February, 1848
reported that “massing” the Choir together had
given greater unity and togetherness. The
A great musician whose influence on British Music will always be remembered.
second experiment he judged a failure.
This tablet is placed here by the Members of the
Coleridge Taylor’s A Tale of Old Japan took
Bournemouth Centre of the British Music Society 1923
place Bournemouth Town Hall during April
1922. “Never again” was the verdict on the
Hall’s acoustics, facilities and ability to attract They advised:
Choirs tend to be conservative and that
a decent audience in Holy Week.
selection looks Victorian. Maybe the audience
1st concert Sullivan The Golden Legend agreed because the November performance of
At the start of the 1922-23 season, the choir’s 2nd concert Handel Messiah
the Sullivan was poorly attended. The Choir’s
3rd
concert
Dvorak
Stabat
Mater
220 members were asked to rank which works
officers blamed a clash of dates with the
4th concert Mendelssohn Elijah
they would like to feature in the season.
unveiling of the town’s War Memorial.
It was Dan, sorry, Sir Dan after he had been
honoured for services to British music in 1922, who
squashed the idea of Dvorak’s Stabat Mater.
Elijah with a strong quartet of soloists featured as
the third concert whilst Sir Dan suggested a Bach
and Parry Concert at Easter.
The Choir was conducted by a celebrity guest
conductor for the first time: Sir Hugh Allen of the
Bach Choir. The occasion was connected with
the Bournemouth Centre of the British Music
Society that was having a plaque erected to Sir
Hubert Parry in the Winter Gardens. Graham Peel
was for a number of years the local Centre
Chairman of The British Music Society, a national
body founded by the enthusiastic Dr Eaglefield
Hull to promote British music and composers.
One of their achievements on the South Coast
was organising the fund-raising for a plaque
honouring Sir Hubert Parry, born by chance in
Bournemouth, Hubert’s mother having been sent
to Bournemouth in a vain attempt to regain her
health.
The plaque was unveiled on 18th
April 1923 by Sir Hugh Allen, in the Winter
Gardens, the town’s ageing miniature Crystal
Palace and Concert Hall. [It now resides in
the town’s Music Library.]
Sir Hubert Parry had assumed the Professorship
of Music at the University of Oxford in 1900 when
Peel was still a post-graduate music student.
Whilst Parry’s role at Oxford was not onerous (a
few lectures per year) and didn’t require him to be
in residence it is likely that the two met during the
early years of the 20th century. Graham Peel held
Parry in high esteem. No doubt it was Graham
Peel who ensured that Sir Hugh Allen was present
to do the unveiling honours in Bournemouth. Later
in November of 1923 The Times critic commented
A new Chorus Master, Hadley Watkins, was
appointed to replace Thomas Crawford who
had emigrated. Hadley Watkins had a fine,
ringing Welsh tenor voice and he was wont
to sing along with the Choir causing several
comments that if he were to shut up, he might
hear the choir more clearly and be able better
to correct errors.
The last concert of the 1923-4 season at the
end of the Easter Festival reinforced
Bournemouth’s pride as the birthplace of Parry
with the town’s first performance of his oratorio
Judith. Artistically, the venture was a great
success but the Box Office was disastrous,
showing a net loss on the Concert. The
season’s finances, like many to follow, were
saved only by the twin Messiahs at Christmas.
But the Morning Post commented:
Sir Dan Godfrey pictured late in his career,
apparently conducting from a piano score.
on what he termed a “revival” of Berlioz’s The
Damnation of Faust:
“The Bournemouth Choir gave an interesting
performance. They are settling down after their
re-organization into a competent body of 250
singers. They are not yet as responsive as they
might be; their sopranos are sometimes
phlegmatic, and the basses are neither so
voluminous nor so profound as might be desired.
The tenors, except for some difficulty with very
high notes are unusually good, and by some
miracle do not bleat but sing.”
“It was no empty compliment that the Choir
paid to the memory of the great composer.
The task was heavy with many passages well
worthy of the choralists’ skill. The Choir
brought ... improved attack, more resonant
tone, and generally showed a marked and
gratifying advance on its previous efforts.”
Time for caution: Messiah and Elijah both
appeared in the 1924-5 season to the surprise
of many in the Choir who felt that they knew
both so well that there would be nothing to do
in rehearsals.
Hadley Watkins quickly
dispelled their concerns: his aim was note
perfection which was so necessary in pieces
that the audience, too, knew backwards.
Hiawatha ended the season and included Roy
Henderson, a future conductor of the Choir,
appearing in fine fettle for the first time in
Bournemouth.
The Bournemouth Municipal Choir outside the Winter Gardens April 1923
This photograph was taken during the visit of Sir Hugh Allen in 1923. Excepting occasions when composers, such as Edward German, conducted
their own works, without receiving a fee, this was the first time the Choir had been directed and assessed by a visiting conductor. Incidentally,
the image reveals a problem of the Choir’s own making. Its habit was to give two concerts in a day, but many in the choir were workers. Thus,
the afternoon performance was graced, as was this picture, by a more elderly, sedate section. The standard of those performances were lower
than the repeats in the evening but critics from London invariably filed early on the basis of the afternoon performance.
photograph by Bailey, Glen Fern
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10
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3
4
5
6
7
8
Key to people in this photograph:
1. Sir Dan Godfrey absent Godfather to the Bournemouth Municipal Choir
2. Sir Hugh Allen in trench coat and trenchant mood.
3. Sir Alexander Campbell Mackenzie composer
4. Miss Elsie Suddaby soprano soloist
5. Edwin Evans distinguished critic from The Times
6. Mrs Elizabeth Peel mother of Graham Peel
7. Mrs Percy Dixon [née Katharine Graham Peel]
8. Graham Peel composer & philanthropist
9. Hadley Watkins future Chorus Master of The Choir
10 Hamilton Law of the British Music Society
The tenor Archibald Winter must be another in the front row. Sopranos are to the left as you look at the picture and contraltos to the right.
This record was probably commissioned and paid for by Graham Peel who lived in Bath Road with his mother, Elizabeth. He was a great enthusiast
for the British Music Society and with Hamilton Law, energised and funded its Bournemouth section. All had gathered not only for the Concert
but also to unveil the new plaque to Sir Hubert Parry. The evidence of their dresses suggests that Mrs Percy Dixon, later to become the President
of the Choir, and her mother, both supporters of the British Music Society, joined in with the Choir in its two performances on that chilly April day.
Bizet’s Carmen show-cased Enid Cruickshank
in the title role but the audience stayed at
home. King Olaf demonstrated the Choir’s
increasing confidence in unaccompanied
passages but the 1925-6 season was not a
financial success and the Choir was fearful
that its independence from the Municipality
was at risk.
In the subsequent season, the
committee responded to Sir Dan’s
advice that they should go for “star”
names as soloists by selecting
Horace Stevens as Elijah and
Walter Widdop, Margaret Balfour
and Roy Henderson for The Dream
of Gerontius. Unfortunately, the
stars failed to fill the Winter
Gardens, particularly in the Elgar,
and the Choir’s committee
continued
to
wrestle
with
maintaining the interest of singers
yet not sacrificing the support of the
public. The combination of Acis &
Galatea
with
The
Mystic
Trumpeter (Harty) failed to turn the
tide, but German’s Merrie England
in the presence of its composer,
again proved to be a financial saviour. The
Choir’s 17th season should have started with
a welcome return of Edward German to
conduct his Tom Jones, but serious illness
that blinded him in one eye had brought
German’s conducting career to a sudden close.
Graham Peel had become chairman of the
Choir replacing Mr W.G. Cooper, who had
been involved with choral music in
Bournemouth for forty years and had led the
It is possible that poor choir discipline and the
failure of some members to be regulars at
practices undermined the committee’s faith in
its voluble Chorus Master, Hadley Watkins.
The workload needed in a schedule containing
four pairs of concert was too much, especially
when three of the works: Tom Jones, the St
John Passion and Tannhauser
were new to many members.
Basses, in particular, suffered a
loss of morale and the 1928-29
season started with an unusually
low number of them. Sir Dan,
fortunately, had weighed in,
declaring three pairs of concerts to
be the ideal season for the Choir.
In any case, the season had to be
truncated because of the planned
closure of the Choir’s home: the
Bournemouth Winter Gardens.
The seasons’s new work was
Elgar’s The Music Makers,
twinned with Coleridge Taylor’s A
Tale of Old Japan. Sir Edward
Elgar himself suggested Joan
Elwes should take the soprano
committee invited him to sing in its next solo in his work. The Christmas Messiahs were
Concert - a concert performance of Wagner’s a great success with soloists suggested by
Graham Peel. The Choir banked £227 from the
Tannhauser. This pair of concerts sold
heavily but the earlier, afternoon performance pair of concerts.
teetered on the brink of disaster. Its problem,
The St Matthew Passion should have been the
shared by many afternoon concert through the
climax of the season, but its double choruses
1920s was the absenteeism amongst the exceeded the choir’s capacity to become
chorus, and in particular, its men. The Choir confident in them, given the foreshortened
drew heavily on those who worked on a rehearsal period. In its place Bach’s St John
Saturday afternoon and who couldn’t ask for Passion was repeated less than a year on from
its first appearance in Bournemouth.
time off three or four times a year.
Choir’s committee since 1913. Mr. Cooper
remained as a 2nd bass. At Peel’s instigation
the first Bournemouth performance of Bach’s
St John Passion was successfully attempted.
Herbert Eisdell was its distinguished, cleartoned Evangelist. John Andrew’s “delightfully
mellow” bass was so admired that the Choir’s
The Choir During Two World Wars
The programme had been a safe one (Messiah x
2, Elijah and Creation). This was necessary
because Herbert Pierce, the Choir’s new
Conductor, was enthusiastic, but had succeeded
Frank Idle one of the finest choir trainers it has
been our lot to work under.
War years are difficult for all choirs because so
many members depart to serve in the forces.
Uncertainty caused the Municipal Choir to
suspend its programme in September 1939. The
committee ruled that a minimum membership of
100 would warrant resumption. In fact, 150 turned
out for the first rehearsal and a revised
programme, starting with miscellaneous choral
and orchestral pieces in November was
scheduled.
Eventually the SATB balance
(68;59;29; 33) was declared to be “very good”.
During the Second World War, members of the
armed forces posted to the Bournemouth area
revelled in the musical riches of their temporary
home. The Secretary, Mr Stanley Arthur, noted
that “the Choir has been strengthened by the
admission of voices in all parts and we have
been pleased to welcome singers who have
been evacuated to the town”.
Bus services may have been restricted, but the
tensions of war encouraged people to seek
solace through music.
One of those whose musicianship was developed
was Pte Arnold W. Jones who was posted to
Bournemouth for six years.
He joined the
Municipal Choir and sang under Dr Reginald
Jacques and Roy Henderson. Arnold Jones
developed a taste for singing and he went on to
join a broadcasting choir, a male voice choir and a
church choir. He ended up as the conductor of
Wolverton’s Light Orchestra and Gilbert and
Sullivan Society.
Chorus Masters and members came and
went during World War I but the beat of
the “Musical Magician”, Dan Godfrey,
pictured here by Bournemouth artist
Eustace Nash, went on.
The Choir’s Secretary reported at the end of the
1939 to 1940 season, “No fewer than 6,543
persons attended our five concerts and it is to be
noted that the Pavilion’s share in the profits was
£304.”
Some Bournemouth women fell in love with G.I.s
and Commonwealth fighting men. Barbara Sydee
worked in the Bournemouth Music Library and was
a first soprano in the Municipal Choir. She met an
American soldier; they fell in love, and when they
were married her wedding gown was fashioned
from parachute silk. After the War, the couple
settled in Minneapolis, USA where Barbara
became a lifelong member of the local Gilbert and
Sullivan Operatic Society.
To sing Bach’s Mass in B minor for the first time
was an achievement for the war-torn Choir in
1941, even if, as reports suggest, the
performance wasn’t terrific. Perhaps for the first
time, the accompanying orchestra was not the
Municipal but the London Philharmonic.
Fortunately, the great choir trainer, Dr Reginald
Jacques, came by train to Bach’s rescue. He
performed the work twice on the same day in the
Choir’s next (31st) season, this time accompanied
by the resurrected home orchestra. Donald
Brook, the distinguished viola player, once wrote:
back in Bournemouth, Reginald Jacques was
appointed Conductor of its Municipal Choir after
an appallingly unsuccessful interregnum under
Reginald Goodall.
Goodall's concern for
complete accuracy and his off-putting manner
upset the Choir, but not as much as his tendency
to conduct rehearsals SITTING DOWN! Jacques’
bubbling enthusiasm and technical expertise
acted as soothing balm for the Choir. But
Reginald was doing too much and he hated
The Choir responded differently during the
aftermaths of the two wars. Britain after World War
I found it difficult to deal with the appalling scale of
its losses. The Twenties were characterised by a
brittle gaiety. The Choir caught the mood by
reviving Edward German’s Merrie England and
then moving to his Tom Jones. Perhaps there was
a nod towards harsh times when Hamilton Harty’s
The Mystic Trumpeter was sung in 1920, but its
effect may have been negated by being
programmed with Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.
If you ever meet a musician whose enthusiasm
strikes you like a tornado, it will be Dr Reginald
Jacques.
Jacques was born in Leicestershire in 1894 and
his prodigious talents were recognised when he
was appointed organist and choirmaster to St
Luke’s, Sheffield at the age of fifteen. Seriously
wounded in World War I he spent months in
hospital in Oxford, time that he used to gain a
degree. Soon, Reginald conducted orchestras
and choirs across Oxford. Choirs loved him and
by 1932 he had been appointed to the
conductorship of the London Bach Choir. Dr
Jacques became famous for his Bach
interpretations. At the outbreak of World War II,
Dr Jacques organised children’s concerts, but the
authorities withdrew their support, fear ing the
outcry that would have occurred if a bomb fell
onto a theatre packed with children.
Reginald moved to C.E.M.A. (Council for the
Encouragement of Music and the Arts). Being a
good organiser, he quickly became its musical
chairman. That organisation later transformed
into the Arts Council of Great Britain. Meanwhile,
travelling under wartime restrictions. Brahms
German Requiem framed World War II for the
Choir. When Richard Austin conducted it in March
1939, few anticipated war with Germany.
However, when Roy Henderson revived the work
in November 1945, memories of the conflict were
fresh and raw. It is interesting to see that the Choir
took precautions and advertised the work as
Brahms Requiem.
Dr. Reginald Jacques
Conductor 1941-2
Roy Henderson, deeply moved by World War II,
reflected this in his notes to the Choir. In the years
that followed he conducted Arthur Bliss’s Morning
Heroes. Its an in memoriam piece for those
soldiers, including Arthur’s brother, Kennard, killed
in the World War I. One of the poems that Bliss
used includes a reference to “the driver deserting
his wagon in the street, the salesman leaving his
store, the boss, the book-keeper, porter, all
leaving.” (Walt Whitman “Drum Taps”) Amongst
such workers were members of the Municipal
Choir. Henderson performed Ralph Vaughan
Williams’ cantata Dona Nobis Pacem in 1948.
Choir and audience would have been as one in
hoping that peace was there to stay.
Geoffrey Hughes preparing Britten in 1979
Bournemouth Symphony Youth Chorus (BSYC)
appointed as accompanist. Thus, the Dorset Youth
Choir (DYC) was formed in 1997 with a Training
Choir for younger children. The BSC stipulated that
the Children’s Choir must be trained to read music,
and be comfortable when led by different
conductors. The DYC was a success from the start,
and has since taken part in many high profile events
with the BSC, the BSO and other bodies. Its
workshops continue led by well known musicians,
including Gareth Malone and Paul Rissman.
The BSC was invited by the Dorset Youth
Orchestra to take part in a performance
of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony in
the Winter Gardens, Bournemouth, which
was followed by a collaboration on
Grande Messe Des Morts by Berlioz
Requiem.
After this there was
correspondence between Carolyn and
Richard Ely (then Dorset’s Director of
Education) that a Youth Choir should be
set up which would be supported by the
BSC who would run awareness raising
workshops for young people in and
around Bournemouth and Poole. Richard
persuaded Pat Hymers, Chair of the
Education Committee, to take the idea
forward and the BSO agreed to provide
programming opportunities for the Youth
Choir. The first partnership meeting took
place at Poole Arts Centre attended by
Andrew Burn for the BSO, Carolyn Date
for the BSC, plus Pat Hymers & Richard
Ely for Dorset County Council, David
Norton for the Dorset Music Service, with
Steve Gregson representing schools. The
BSC set up vocal workshops for children
in the conurbation led by Neville Creed
supported by Liz Nayler, BSC Education
Liaison
Officer.
Children
were
subsequently auditioned by Liz Nayler,
who was invited by DMS to become the
Founder Director, and Malcolm Burdett was
The BSC took over formal management of the choir
in 2004 when the name changed to Bournemouth
Symphony Youth Chorus and the BSC became
responsible for the future viability of the youth choir.
The BSYC is supported financially by over 80
members of the BSC who are Patrons for the
youth choir as well as providing practical support
for rehearsals and concerts. Sue Gosling, also
a BSC member, is Secretary; and she is supported
by De Ashton, Margaret Burdett and other members
of the BSC who act as chaperones and other
necessary roles.
The BSC actively generates opportunities for the
Youth Chorus, and has included them in their
Commissions. The BSYC has had four Directors,
Elizabeth Nayler, (interim directors Andrew Knights
and Steve Gregson) Cathy Lamb, Fiona Clarke
with Elizabeth Nayler returning to her old post
in 2009.
Elizabeth Nayler’s work has been
at the heart of the BSYC’s progress.
After
her retirement in 2012 she was succeeded by
the very highly regarded conductor Jean Holt.
Malcolm Burdett remained their inspiring accompanist
throughout this period until his untimely death
in 2009, after which his daughter, Katherine
Wills, has been appointed to this role.
Four graduates of the BSYC tell their stories …
Having left behind church singing as a boy chorister
I found the BSYC to be a fantastic opportunity to
carry on with my singing. The experiences I had with
the choir encouraged me to audition for the adult
chorus, especially after having collaborated with
them as part of the recording of Carmina Burana in
2006. After I left the BSYC I went on to sing with the
National Youth Choir and took part in the Eton
Choral Courses. I have recently graduated from
Cambridge University reading music where I held a
choral scholarship and sang in various guises from
musical theatre to close harmony groups and even
a boy band! Singing with the BSYC gave me the
confidence to pursue singing seriously and moving
to the BSC gave me an enviable, professional choral
training not to mention many unforgettable
experiences.
James Partridge first bass
I joined the BSYC or Dorset Youth Choir as we were
known then in 1997 when I was 11 years old. There
were about 40 of us in the original training choir. Liz
Nayler was the boss and Malcolm Burdett played
piano for us. At first we rehearsed in Hamworthy,
Poole before moving to Ferndown Middle School on
Monday evenings. One of the first concerts I
remember was at the Poole Arts Centre when we
sang 'Snowman' at Christmas. The best memories
were when we sang Carmina Burana at the Royal
Albert Hall in London, April 2000, what an amazing
place! A brilliant time was when we went on tour
to France and had an great time at Disneyland
singing to fellow tourists, I still remember the words.
I feel privileged to be one of the original members
of the BSYC and to still be singing with the BSC is
great.
Stephen Ballantine first tenor
Mum and Dad are members of the BSC so as a child
I sat in on rehearsals and went to concerts when they
did tours abroad. When the Youth Chorus was
founded I was eager to audition and brimmed with
pride as I told my parents that I was to be a member
of the new choir. Monday rehearsals proved to be
exciting and challenging but above all enormous fun.
The music was beautiful and performances gave me
a great sense of achievement; it was satisfying to
find that everything came together and all our efforts
paid off. Later on I discovered just how therapeutic
singing could be; however stressful my schoolwork
or exams were there was nothing that a good dose
of singing couldn’t cure. (I still hold this view now
although homework has been replaced with
housework, and maths tests with getting my two
small boys ready to leave for school in the morning!)
We were able to sing in some fantastic venues of
which the Royal Albert Hall sticks in my mind for its
gargantuan proportions. Singing alongside the adult
chorus with the symphony orchestra made a great
impression on me and I remember drinking in all the
instruction and advice I could from the celebrated
conductors with whom we were working. I loved
listening to the breath-taking soloists and any
orchestral pieces that were on programme. The
choir have the best seats in the house! It was at choir
that I first met Maurice. As rehearsals went by we
got to know each other better and became good
friends. Love blossomed and we became an item we are now married! We moved away but have since
returned and so I have been able to join the BSC. I
had missed singing in a choir. The Chorus is
demanding at times but I relish the challenge. I am
discovering so much music. Being part of the huge
sound created by so many voices is a great feeling
and I am not ashamed to admit that I find performing
again exhilarating.
Emily Walters second soprano
I've been connected to the Bournemouth
Symphony Chorus for several years starting with
the Youth Chorus when I was fourteen. I’ve
enjoyed so many exciting opportunities with both
choirs but two in particular come to mind. One
was my first performance of Carmina Burana- I
had never sung in anything so loud! The second
was when I had to dress up as a 'tart' to play the
part of a Gossip in Britten's Noye's Fludde, not my
usual concert dress!
I was lucky to have so many opportunities to sing
with professional orchestras and soloists from a
young age. It was experiences like these that
inspired me to go on to pursue a career in singing.
I am coming to the end of singing in Genesis
Sixteen this year, a training choir led by Harry
Christophers and the Sixteen, and I'm looking
forward to what the future will bring.
Hannah Ely first soprano
Floreat BSYC, Floreat BSC!
The BSYC performances during the BSC’s
Centenary Season have been stunning, and
include Not in Our Time concerts and recording,
the David Fanshawe memorial concert, Carmina
Burana in Bristol and Poole, and Chalk Legend
in Weymouth as part of the 2012 Cultural
Olympiad. During that season, the BSC had 14
singers who were graduates from the BSYC. In
addition, other former members have sung with
the Chorus for a while before moving away to
attend Universities. All are excellent singers, and
a testament to the value of this work. At least eight
other members of BSC have come from other
youth choirs in the area. Youth Choirs represent
the future well-being of the BSC, and are an
important musical and social investment.
Carolyn Date Chorus Manager BSC
Royal Occasions
Arthur Bliss visited Bournemouth fairly regularly as composer/conductor.
In 1922 he appeared as enfant terrible to perform Rout and his Colour
Symphony. A local critic accused Bliss of a further vice: “cleverness”. The
noisy, cocky brat no doubt gave some of the ladies in the Winter Gardens
a touch of the vapours, and the accustomed soothing aroma from the pines
would have made astringent by the opening of “smelling salts”.
By the 1950s Bliss, always a charming, correct, chivalrous man with a
no-nonsense military bearing, had mellowed. A knighthood recognised his
musical gifts, and he succeeded Sir Arnold Bax as Master of the Queen’s
Music in 1953. Arthur was a backwards-looking figure, a lover of heritage
(he put back a k into the Queen’s Musick) who personified the British musical
scene. What better person to help the Western Orchestral Society in 1954
in its bid to rescue the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, from the ashes
of the doomed Municipal Orchestra? Bliss became President of the Society,
and he brought, if not “by appointment to the Queen”, continuity guaranteed
by the establishment.
Thus, when Groves and the Orchestra were invited to perform at the 1959
Royal Concert it was appropriate to include a piece by Bliss. Groves chose
his Pastoral: Lie Strewn the White Flocks (1928), one of the first pieces
that showed Bliss moving from the English avant-garde towards a more
restrained, classical style. The work, which is dedicated to Elgar, uses a
medley of Greek texts and calls for flute, soprano, strings and a mixed chorus.
It allowed the Municipal Choir to sing for royalty for the first time.
Naming the MV Queen Elizabeth
The date is the 11th October, 2010 and the place is the Ocean Cruise
Terminal in Southampton Docks. The BSO, Chorus and BSYC Chamber
Choir, conductor Anthony Inglis, soloist Lesley Garrett, bands and musicians
have assembled to entertain the Queen and the guests at the official naming
ceremony for the new Cunard Cruise Liner M.V. Queen Elizabeth.
A notelet from Alastair Smith (Chairman of the Chorus in 2010)
And ... more recently the Royal trip when the Queen came to Southampton to name the Queen
Elizabeth. Security was tight - you needed your distemper certificate ... the insight into how
,
, etc. in
stage-managed it was. To be part of that and to sing
arrangements that didn't slap on the emotions with a trowel but with a bloody, big shovel. For
me, being Scottish, I noticed a couple of piper - one a wee lassie. That was the only time I've sung
accompanied by bagpipes. The pipes introduced
and then there was Lesley Garrett,
giving her all. It was "pomp and stomp" stuff, but it was great, being part of history, singing to
Terry Waite, and a great diversity of people.
Above (left): Assistant Chorus Master and Accompanist, Christopher
Dowie gives last minute instructions to the crew of her majesty’s choir
a.k.a. the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, some of whom are seen to
the right and below.
Bournemouth’s Unfinished Symphony
Close your eyes and think of Beethoven’s Ninth
Symphony and what do you hear in your mind’s
ear? Probably the Ode to Joy. But let’s enter
H.G. Wells’ Time Machine and travel back to
Bournemouth in 1925 and Dan Godfrey, the year
before Felix Weingartner’s epoch-making first
electrical recording with the London Symphony
Orchestra. Let’s pose the same question. The
answers from music lovers then would be very
varied. Some would remember the hesitant string
figure that starts the work, others the striking
fusillade in the Scherzo and most of the rest would
opt for a moment of stillness from the slow
movement. Few might conjure up the finale’s
memorable tune despite the symphony having
received many performances in the Old Winter
Gardens, such was Dan’s delight in complete
symphonic cycles. Why did the public not register
the Choral Symphony’s crowning glory?
Well, when Godfrey advertised Beethoven’s 9th in
a programme, the small print would mention that
only the first three movements would be played.
Godfrey, Austin, and all the BMO conductors before
Rudolf Schwarz, NEVER conducted the Choral
finale of the Choral Symphony in Bournemouth.
By extension, the Bournemouth Municipal Choir
didn’t sing the work until the Choir was 40 years old.
Even then, it couldn’t claim the peak for itself, having
joined choral societies such as Salisbury’s in staging
a performance suitable for the Festival of Britain
That first complete performance included Elizabeth
Schwarzkopf as a soloist and she sat amongst the
choir’s sopranos. I wonder who had the honour of
sitting beside her!
There is little doubt that Bournemouth and its
orchestra holds the world record for the greatest
number of non-choral performances of the Choral
Symphony. It’s a title, if not an honour, which it’s
unlikely ever to lose because although such practice
was not uncommon then, it would be unthinkable to
do this today. What other factors caused the choir
and its conductors to delay their assault on one of
the highest peaks in the Alpine range of choral
masterpieces?
Of course, size matters in such things. With the
best will in the world, Harry Christophers and The
Sixteen couldn’t attempt a Choral Symphony
without mikes, speakers and gizmos. Beethoven
needed something big. The Bournemouth Municipal
Choir always had the numbers of voices; it started
with over 200 and when it moved to the “new” Winter
Gardens after World War II, the broad stage could
accommodate two such choirs, if necessary. Yet,
lack of tenors was a hardy perennial. Wessex isn’t
David Lewis was a Choir
stalwart for 40 years from
1954. A proud Welshman,
his bass voiced was heard in
16 performances of the
Choral Symphony.
Wales; tenors don’t grow on pine trees. In his
native South Wales, Hadley Watkins, the BMC
Chorus Master in the 1920s, could pipe down a
shaft, “Tenners”, and a cage of black-faced miners
would be sent up, eager to cast away their pit
props in favour of Hadley’s favourite tonic sol-fa
score props. So keen to support the tenor line was
Hadley, a mellifluous tenor himself, that he sang
along in rehearsal and performance, causing at
least one member to complain that if Mr Watkins
sang a little less, he would hear the flaws and
virtues of the choir a little more.
Whose programme is it anyway? At its inception,
the Municipal Choir was an instrument of local
government, subservient to the will of the
orchestra’s conductor, Dan Godfrey. He was a
pragmatist: if it worked as written, he’d programme
it; if not, he would adapt it by truncation, selection,
or rescoring.
Truncation was his recipe for the 9th partly
because he knew of “the issue”. Say it not in Gath
but for the first half of its existence, the choir’s
soprano line was more stout than svelte, its
average age mature and matronly, and its status
refined and genteel. Ladies don’t push; without
push and much support, Beethoven’s blazing top
line, which highlights top As sprinkled with Bs for
extra glitter, sounds pallid: more joyless than joyful.
The work demands toned bodies, allied to a go for
it attitude. Many a modern conductor must rejoice
that the Singing, Swinging Sixties, Women’s Lib
and the Gym culture have made women fit, free to
sing without frisson of fear the great rising phrase
that ends with a fortissimo high A held for eight
bars:
“Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diese Kuss der ganzen Welt.”
“Be embraced, millions!
This kiss for the whole world.”
more. It’s as if their collars have been felt, judged
too limp and been reinforced by the addition of
visible collar stiffeners. As for the chorus master,
he demanded an apology or else he threatened
to refuse to work again with Maestro XXXX!
Graham Parkin puts his finger on why the Choral
Symphony appears far more frequently during
recent decades; it’s a long sit followed by a
draining sing. Beethoven coined it a “Symphony
with Final Chorus of Schiller’s ‘Ode to Joy’ for full
orchestra, 4 soli and 4 chorus parts”.
POSTCARD
from Graham Parkin
first tenor
Conductors are as terrified of not doing justice to
Beethoven’s most demanding symphony as are
choirs. Rudolph Schwarz wanted to programme
the piece from his earliest days in Bournemouth,
but Roy Henderson assessed that his choir was
unready for the challenge.
Some notable recordings in the 1960s faked the
choirs by filling the seats entirely, or almost
entirely, with professional singers but still claiming
that the record featured this or that amateur choral
society or chorus.
In 1970, one conductor brought along some
professionals to help the Bournemouth choir
without getting either its, or its chorus master’s,
permission to do so. Nothing antagonises choirs
Works like Beethoven’s Choral and Mahler’s
Resurrection Symphony have enjoyed a great
increase in performance frequency by the Chorus
in the last decades. They have become repertoire
pieces and the choir has been able to diversify, to
devote practice time to extra concerts, sometimes
unaccompanied, or with organ or small ensemble
accompaniments.
A final thought: if an orchestra can play an unchoral choral symphony, then a choir can finish an
unfinished symphony. In Constantin Silvestri’s
time, the Municipal Choir “completed” Bruckner’s
unfinished 9th Symphony with his Te Deum.
(That concert in the 1968 Easter Festival included
some of the BSO’s finest playing under Silvestri,
according to one informed commentator).
Stylistically, the two works shout at each other, so
arbiters of taste have criticised such programming.
Scheduling these two Bruckner works in the same
concert was as odd as playing Beethoven’s 9th
sans finale.
POST CARD
from Jean Harvey
vice president
Choral societies are more likely to vote for a
traditional evening-long oratorio replete with
choruses for a term of busy rehearsals or works
requiring fewer expensive soloists. Symphonies
with choral finales suit the immediate needs of
orchestras better than choirs. After the Municipal
Choir became the Bournemouth Symphony
Chorus, the orchestra’s management had a
greater say in determining joint programmes.
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is huge sing, even for a
choir of 150. One performance that stays in my
memory was with the BSO and Richard Hickox in
Plymouth Pavilions about 15 years ago.
A
midweek event, its early coach departure and an
epidemic conspired to reduce our numbers to 67.
Neville sang to boost the basses and Hickox gave
lots of encouragement to give our all. When we
got to the bass entry, I could feel the platform
shaking with the effort they made. Somehow we
did it. Richard Hickox had a look of amazement
at the volume we produced. It just goes to show
what you can get out of terrified people!
Choir Celebrations
Silver Jubilee in 1936-37
This anniversary was not formally celebrated but its
programme had special character. The earlier concert was
a concert performance of Saint-Saens Samson and Delilah,
the third grand opera that the choir had performed (Wagner’s
Tannhäuser and Bizet’s Carmen having preceded it).
The Easter Concert was a second attempt under Frank Idle
to do justice to Verdi’s Requiem Mass. Sadly, Noel Eadie,
the soprano soloist, was taken ill and had to be substituted
at the last minute. One wonders whether the task of singing
the demanding part twice in the same day overwhelmed her.
Curiously, the Choir held its own, informal celebration, in
advance, as this notice placed in the Annual Report for the
24th Season (1934-35) shows:
The rehearsal for the Silver Jubilee Celebration
will be held in the
Richmond Congregational Church Lecture Theatre
on Tuesday, April 30th at 7.30p.m. [1935!]
Please bring your copies of the
Hallelujah Chorus and Jerusalem.
Golden Jubilee in 1961-62
The choir’s Golden Jubilee was celebrated by a reception
given by the Mayor, Councillor Deric Scott. Blanche Fraser
and Stanley Arthur both attended. Both had sung in the
Choir’s first concert. Stanley Arthur remained as a tenor.
Fittingly, he sang solo in part of German’s Merrie England
and was joined in other excerpts by leading members including
David Mills, Ethel Fullerton, Donald Sheppard, Joan Price,
Victor Thomas and Anne Dunn. Deric Scott revealed that he
had been a member for five seasons before World War II when
Frank Idle had been the conductor. The chairman, Mr Travis,
responded and stated that he could skip the audition and
re-join, if he wished!
The anniversary season had
started with a performance of
Verdi’s opera Nabucco and ended
with a performance of Bach’s St
Matthew Passion at Easter 1962,
the first time that a full version of
Bach’s masterpiece lasting over
four hours had been heard in
Bournemouth. Charles Groves,
with his usual care for style,
employed
Millicent Silver on
harpsichord and Cyril Knight on
organ. The Choir sang well and its
men were “notably solid in tone”
according to the Bournemouth
Echo’s music critic.
Diamond Jubilee in 1970-71
The Season, technically the Municipal Choir’s 59th, commenced
with Verdi’s Requiem Mass under Bernard Keeffe, the fifth
conductor to work on the piece with the Municipal Choir. Although
the Choir must have seen this as a special event, Verdi’s
Requiem had yet to become the crowd-pleaser that it did in later
decades and the Winter Gardens was less than two thirds full.
After a successful Messiah sung to an almost full house in
mid-January under Brian Priestman,where as well as conducting
he also played the harpichord continuo, the season came to a
rousing conclusion with a Diamond Jubilee concert that included
two stirring Baroque pieces: Zadok the Priest, and Bach’s early
cantata God’s Time is the Best, BWV 106, separated by a
peaceful pastoral: Arthur Bliss’ Lie Strewn the White Flocks.
After the interval the pagan splendours of Walton’s Belshazzar’s
Feast were unveiled under Meredith Davies. When Colin
Wheatley, the baritone soloist, translated the words on the the
King’s wall: Thou Art Weighed in the Balance and Found Wanting
he was supported by 174 in the Choir. Did he think for a moment
that his words described the audience: a paltry 815 in a hall built
to house twice as many?
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin
75 years in 1986 - 87
The centrepiece of the celebration was a performance of Sir Edward
Elgar’s The Apostles in November 1986. Sir Charles Groves, a
great proponent of Elgar’s oratorios was its conductor and there
was a strong cast of soloists; The Apostles tends to be an
“occasional work” because it requires 5 soloists. It was forty years
since Roy Henderson had introduced the choir to the work. On
hearing that the work was being repeated, Roy wrote that the part
of Jesus in The Apostles was his favourite Elgar role.
Appropriately, the performance was the Bournemouth Symphony
Orchestra’s annual St Cecilia Concert, an event that raises money
for the orchestra’s Benevolent Fund, partly through the musicians
giving their services for free.
The Chorus held a party and the
picture shows Chorus Master and
Chorus Chairman poised to cut the
anniversary cake. The Chairman at
that time was Victor Thomas, seen in
the blazer, with Geoffrey Hughes
adding a little pressure.
90th birthday, November 2001
It's unusual for an organisation to celebrate its
90th birthday, so it was a sign of vigour and
confidence when the Chorus backed by
Southern Arts, Poole Arts Trust and the John
S. Cohen Foundation, commissioned a major
new work from the British composer, Richard
Blackford. Whilst the Choir and Chorus had
sung pieces written specially for it, this was the
first time it had been the commissioner, paying
the composer and entering the exciting creative
process from conception, through breathing life
into printed notes in rehearsal, to assembling
all necessary elements for the first performance.
Importantly, the composer’s brief included a part
for a
children’s choir. The extended Voices of Exile
project was organised to generate involvement
across the community. Three TV programmes
were broadcast by Meridian Broadcasting, the
ITV company that served the South East and
South of England: The Frame a 30 minute
documentary about the commissioning of
Voices of Exile, interviews with artists and
poets, and the history of the Chorus. The work’s
première in Poole was recorded and broadcast
by Meridian as two programmes over two
weekends drawing a huge audience in its
region. A linked education project involved two
schools. Maria Eugenia Bravo Calderara, the
exiled Chilean poet, worked with 6th form
students from Bournemouth School and St
Peter’s School.
The library service in
Bournemouth mounted a linked poetry
competition and Helen Donaldson curated a
photographic exhibition featuring work by
refugees living in Bournemouth at the Poole Arts
Centre to complement the work’s first
performance.
Refugee, the original working title, was
changed to Voices of Exile shortly before the
final draft was completed. Richard set poems
written by exiled poets, framed by a prologue
and epilogue freshly commissioned from Tony
Harrison. The world première was given at
Poole Arts Centre on Saturday 17th November
2001 followed by the London première on the
19th November to a packed Royal Festival
Hall. The Chorus was joined by the BSO
contemporary music ensemble Kokoro, and
the Dorset Youth Choir (now the BSYC) under
the baton of Neville Creed, with soloists
Christine Botes (mezzo soprano), Robert Tear
(tenor) and Paul Whelan (baritone). A number
of the exiled poets featured in the work
attended the concerts: Gergyi Tsering Gonpo,
Maria
Calderara,
Tanya
Czarovska,
Mohammed Khaki, with Tony Harrison
attending both performances.
Blackford, as a deeply literate and assured
composer, senses precisely the response
needed by each poem. And he has the skill to
set them with a graphic immediacy which
never descends to bathos. In such a work as
this, this skill is rare.
Hilary Finch, The Times 21/11/2001
Tony Harrison’s poetry and Richard’s music,
linked with sound-bites from recordings the
composer had prepared from folksongs and the
voices of poets reading in their native tongues,
plunges listeners into the world of the refugee.
It is a discomforting subject, yet one which
Blackford determined to confront after he was
introduced to the work of the Medical
Foundation and Prisoners of Conscience in
2000. Before the interval of the work’s London
première,
Juliet Stephenson presented
“Voices” a programme of humour and drama
Richard Blackford had experience of multifacetted music including Community Opera
and his new work included traditional music
recorded in places such as Macedonia, Bengal
and Somalia that had seen people exiled from
their home-land during the 20th century, often
fleeing at short notice in fear of their lives taking
with them only songs and poetry. Blackford
acknowledged the influence of David
Fanshawe’s African Sanctus, the work that
had contributed much to the renewal and
redefinition of the Bournemouth Symphony
Chorus.
Richard Blackford cutting the Choir’s
centenary cake after a performance of
his Not In My Time in Cheltenham.
which included Alan Rickman, Bill Patterson,
Fiona Shaw, Emma Thompson and other
celebrated actors. Their performance and
Voices of Exile were given in aid of the Medical
Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture
and the Prisoners of Conscience Appeal Fund.
The Choir, which started by vigorously
championing the light English music of its time,
was continuing, doing perhaps a more critical
task, ensuring that a British composer in the
challenging environment of the 21st century
had the support to allow him to pen and hear
an oratorio of international social concern and
commitment. The Chorus’ enterprise was
rewarded with a work that developed and
extended models provided by Michael Tippett
sixty years before in A Child of Our Time, and
Hans Werner Henze, Blackford’s teacher, in
his Das Floß der Medusa (The Raft of the
Medusa) that was written, but not heard,
during the turbulent 1960s.
Voices of Exile was later recorded by David
Hill, with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the
London Bach Choir on the Quartz label.